Coin holder



Jan. 7, 1969 Y H. M. COCHRANE 3,420,359

COIN HOLDER Filed Sept. 27, 1967 FIG. 3

g m *MW United States Patent 3,420,359 COIN HOLDER Hugh M. Cochrane, 23Taber Road, Rexdale, Ontario, Canada Filed Sept. 27, 1967, Ser. No.671,009 Claims priority, application Canada, Oct. 3, 1966, 971,944

US. Cl. 206-.82 Int. Cl. A45c 11/00 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREThis invention relates to improved coin holders for use in handlingcoins in banking and other financial institutions and business concernswhich handle large quantities of coins including the packaging andtransportation thereof.

This invention provides for a coin holder which is inexpensive tomanufacture, durable and convenient to use and one in which the coinsare retained in the coin holder in a stack by converging side wallsthereof until they are ready for use.

Conventional coin holders of a type similar to the present invention aregenerally of semicircular cross-section with the result that when theconventional coin holders are axially opened or the tops thereof areremoved, the coins are free to escape therefrom. For this reasonconventional coin holders must either always be closed or held in such aposition that the coins cannot roll or fall out.

The above mentioned disadvantage has been overcome in the presentinvention by moulding or forming the coin holder from resilient plasticmaterial in such a manner that the transverse cross-section thereof isin the shape of a major segment of a circle with the result that thelongitudinal edges of the coin holder converge at the open portionthereof therby retaining the coins within the coin holder but permittingsuch coins to be removed or replaced with a snap action.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a coin holder comprising amoulded or formed receptacle for receiving a stack of coins in the shapeof a major segment of a cylinder closed at each end by end walls. Thelongitudinal edges of said cylinder converge to retain within the saidcoin holder, coins in a stack. The said receptacle is moulded or formedfrom a resilient plastic material so that a coin can be removed from orplaced in said receptacle by causing said converging sides to spreadthereby providing a snap closure action.

Other features of the invention particularly relating to details ofconstruction and operation will become apparent from the followingdescription, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawingsillustrating the invention by way of example and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken through the coinholder and showing the same complete with an attached cap and in openposition;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view similar to FIGURE 1 butshowing the attached cap in closed position;

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal plan view of a coin holder showing the attachedcap in an open position;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken through a coinholder in accordance with an alternative embodiment and showing thelongitudinal edges of the coin holder reinforced by a flange; and

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the embodiment of FIG- URE 4.

The coin holder illustrated in FIGURES 1, 2 and 3 comprises a receptacle1 in the shape of a major segment of a cylinder closed at each end byend pieces 2 and 3, complete with a cap 4, in the shape of a minorsegment of a cylinder, being closed at each end by end pieces 5 and 6.The segments 1 and 2 and end pieces 3, 4, 5 and 6 may be moulded orformed in one piece from any suitable resilient material such aspolyethylene or polystyrene.

The cylinder segments 1 and 4 are hingedly connected together alongadjacent longitudinal edges as at 7 in such a manner as that they may befolded toward each other in closing relationship. The opposite or outerlongitudinal edges 8 and 9, respectively, of the cylinder seg ments 1and 4 may each be provided with suitable locking members indicated at 10and 11 which so co-act when the cylinder segments are moved intoengagement with each other, as to interlock with one another formaintaining the coin holder in closed position. The locking members 10and 11 can extend substantially the entire length of the cylindersegments or can be at one or more points only along the outerlongitudinal edge of the cylinder segments. Locking member 10 is in theform of a trough 10a having a re-entrant neck 10b in a flange 10c.Locking member 11 has a protrusion 11a on the surface of flange 11b.Protrusion 11a mates with trough 10a and is releasably engaged byre-entrant neck 10b. There is thus provided the rigidifying effect offlanges 10c and 11b together with a sealing eifect and also a lockingaction.

The inside diameter of the cylinder segments comprising the coin holderand cap should be in conformance with the diameter of the coin intendedto be held in the said holder. The length of the coin holder isdetermined by the number of coins intended to be held therein.

The coin holder may also be constructed as illustrated in FIGURE 4wherein the longitudinal edges of the major segment of the cylinder 1,are reinforced by a flange 12 which is in a unitary plane parallel withthe longitudinal axis of the cylinder. In this case the top or cap ofthe coin holder in the shape of a minor segment of a cylinder iseliminated. As shown in FIGURE 5, the end walls have an edge 13 which isin unitary plane with flange 12. The provision of edge 13 and flange 12is particularly advantageous since the desired snap action is enhanced.It is therefore possible to make an inexpensive, disposable unit fromthin sheet material in which there is suflicient reinforcement at themargins to give a snap action which will retain the coins.

In operation, the coins are placed in the coin holder by spreading theresilient longitudinal side walls .1 and inserting the coins and, whenthe coins have been inserted, by releasing the said side walls whichsnap back to their original position. The resiliency of the materialassists in ejecting the coins as the coins in the centre can readily bereleased by finger pressure against the outside wall.

The coin holder may be fabricated from any suitable resilient plasticmaterial such as polyethylene or polystyrene which may be transparent soas to facilitate observation of the contents of the coin holder or whichmay be coloured. Where the coin holder is transparent, transverse linescan be marked on the cylindrical wall to indicate the spacing of thecoins. Then if there is an unusually large number of thin or thick coinsthe exact number contained in the holder will be apparent frominspection. The lines will provide a guide to indicate if the correctnumber of coins has been inserted. The coin holder may also be used as aholder for various types of discs such as poker chips, milk tokens andthe like.

The preferred method of manufacture is by forming. A sheet of aresilient thermoplastic plastic is softened by heat and air can be usedto force the sheet into a concave mould. Alternatively, vacuum could beused to shape the sheet on a convex mould.

I claim:

1. A coin holder comprising a receptacle for receiving a stack of coinsin the shape of a major segment of a cylinder closed at each end by endwalls, the longitudinal edges of said cylinder and the edges of said endwalls having a reinforcing flange in a unitary plane, the longitudinaledges of said cylinder converging to retain within the said coin holder,coins in a stack, said receptacle being made from a resilient plasticmaterial so that a coin can be removed from or placed in said receptacleby causing said converging sides to spread thereby providing a snapclosure action.

2. A coin holder as in claim 1 in which the major segment of thecylinder comprising the receptacle is hingedly connected along one ofthe longitudinal edges to a cap of resilient plastic material comprisingthe minor segment of said cylinder with end pieces of the same materialand with a similar flange in a unitary plane along the longitudinaledges and end walls of said cap, constructed in such a manner that thecap will fold upon the said major segment to form a cylinder ofapproximately the diameter of the coins contained therein.

3. A coin holder as in claim 2 in which the two outer flanges on thelongitudinal edges of said cylinder are in the form of locking devices.

4. A coin holder as in claim 2 in which one of the said outer flanges isformed to provide a trough with a reentrant neck and the other of saidflanges is formed to provide a protrusion mating with said trough andbeing releasably engaged by the re-entrant neck.

5. A coin holder as in claim 1 in which the coin holder is formed from asheet of thin thermoplastic material such as polystyrene orpolyethylene.

6. A coin holder as in claim 2 in which the coin holder is formed from asheet of thin thermoplastic material such as polystyrene orpolyethylene.

7. A coin holder as in claim 3 in which the coin holder is formed from asheet of thin thermoplastic material such as polystyrene orpolyethylene.

8. A coin holder as in claim 4 in which the coin holder is formed from asheet of thin thermoplastic material such as polystyrene orpolyethylene.

9. A coin holder as in claim 1 in which the plastic material istransparent.

10. A coin holder as in claim 1 in which the plastic material iscoloured.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,194,192 8/1916 Kittrell 2060.822,909,280 10/1959 Furno et al. 2060.82

JAMES B. MARBERT, Primary Examiner.

